To Walk a Mile in Her Shoes
by Kanna37
Summary: Inuyasha runs off to Kikyou again, which results in another fight when he finally gets back - but this time, someone else is listening in, and decides to take things into her own hands. 1st B. Oneshot 2nd Quarter 2010 IYFG. Winner Best oneshot 2010 IYFG.


**To Walk a Mile in Her Shoes**

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Inuyasha.

---sSs---

"_Osuwari_!"

With a ground shuddering force, the red-clad hanyou was driven face first into the ground by the pale, teary-eyed young woman standing in front of him.

It was a scene the rest of the tachi had been privy to far too many times, and all sympathy was with Kagome in this matter.

Once again, last evening, Inuyasha had run off after Kikyou, leaving everyone vulnerable, and the future-born miko to suffer an evening of hurt - and frightened that _this_ time, he wouldn't return.

As if that weren't bad enough, when he_ had _shown up and Kagome had asked him what Kikyou had had to say, he'd shouted at her, and told her it was none of her business.

She'd only been asking if the undead miko had had any useful news of Naraku - and she hadn't been impolite at all about the request.

But when he'd opened his mouth and started shouting at her, that had done it, and she'd started to cry, then sat him into his current hole in the ground.

Then she'd stomped off - leaving the hanyou to spit and curse in his crater until the spell let him up.

Sango, Miroku, Shippo, and Kirara watched in almost resigned silence, and when Kagome had gone off, Sango followed her to offer a shoulder to cry on and help calm her back down.

Just before she left, the slayer cast a dirty look into the still cursing crater, then looked at Miroku. "Keep that fool away from us, monk, no matter what you have to do, got it? And try to talk some sense into him - even though it probably won't work any better now than it ever has," she finished disgustedly as she walked away.

Miroku sighed and stared at the hanyou now trying to claw himself out of his hole.

"I fear that it will be wasted effort, just as all the other times we've attempted to explain things, as Sango suggested."

Shippo nodded, glaring at Inuyasha.

"Yeah... you know, I almost wish he could get a taste of his own medicine. It'd serve him right."

The monk nodded agreeably, sighing again as the hanyou made it out of the hole and started berating him for letting the girls go off alone.

_So do I, Shippo - so do I. It might be the only way to teach him just why it upsets Kagome so much when he chases after Kikyou._

No one noticed a small green spark flare and then dissipate just as suddenly.

---sSs---

Sango found her best friend in a clearing a few minutes away, sitting near a small stream, still crying silently. She clenched her fists - she'd love to thump Inuyasha one right about now - but after a moment, forcibly _un_clenched her hands, and taking a deep, calming breath, she finally walked over to sit down near Kagome.

She didn't say anything for a while, just sitting with her and letting her cry it out as the shadows lengthened and the sun slid across the sky; they would not be traveling any further this day.

Finally, Kagome shuddered, and sighed, closing her eyes and tilting her face to the disappearing sun. "Sometimes," she said softly, "I sit and look at the sky, and I wonder why I keep coming back."

Her voice got quieter then, and her eyes opened, but Sango could see the expression in them; she was far away, her eyes on a horizon only she could see.

"I wonder if it wouldn't hurt less to go home and stay there... but... then I think of that life, there in my time, and I realize that I really don't belong there anymore." She laughed, a hollow sound. "And yet... I really don't belong here, either. I'm kind of caught between two worlds - but not really part of one or the other."

Sango reached over, hesitating a moment, then placed a soft hand on Kagome's shoulder. "It's not about where you were born, Kagome," she said, equally softly. "You were brought here because you were needed. That's never going to change. And even though you were brought here because of the shikon - you_ remain _here because_ we _need you. Not because fate needed you here."

Kagome reached up placed her hand over her friend's hand, squeezing it gently, though her eyes were still far away. "Thanks, Sango. I... just wish_ he _needed me, too."

"But he does, Kagome. You don't see him when you go home. He can't stand anything, even himself, until you're back with him, and he worries every time you're out of his sight - and he's useless in a fight, too."

That brought a slightly bitter laugh. "That just goes to show what a burden I am to him... he worries because he knows how worthless I am - I can't even take care of myself. If the kami needed a hero to deal with this situation, they chose pretty poorly when they picked me, Sango."

She closed her eyes again and lowered her face, then sighed. "I really wish, though, that Inuyasha could see just how he makes me feel with Kikyou. Let him walk a mile in my shoes..." she trailed off into a pained silence.

Sango merely tightened her hand on her best friend's shoulder in sympathy, and let the silence lay, all the while agreeing with Kagome - Inuyasha should be put through what he put her through all the time. Maybe then, he'd stop and think about someone other than himself...

Neither of the two women noticed the green spark that flared brightly for one moment in the deepening twilight, and then faded away.

---sSs---

Somewhere high in the heavens a certain spirit heard the words of the little miko, and the kitsune - and the thoughts of the monk and the slayer.

She'd seen over and over the actions of a certain hanyou - and it needed to end.

With a secretive smile, she decided that it was time.

This night, the hanyou would finally learn what it felt like to be Kagome.

---sSs---

That evening in camp was a strange one; everyone was on edge for some reason - the feeling that one gets just before the storm permeating the entire area.

Kagome refused to speak to, or even look at, Inuyasha, seemingly preoccupied and far away, and Inuyasha pretty much stayed in his chosen tree all evening, barely coming down even to eat.

The others just watched, and kept quiet, uncertain in the odd atmosphere, and not wanting to make matters worse by pointing out the elephant in the camp.

All in all, it made for a very uncomfortable night.

But for one certain member of the group, it was going to get much, much worse before daylight finally broke the horizon once more.

Kagome ate and very quickly turned in, though she didn't sleep for a long time, lost in painful thoughts and memories as she finally began to wonder if she should just give up any hopes of ever gaining a place in Inuyasha's life and heart.

People might think that Inuyasha was a jerk, and undeserving of her love, and he was a jerk - a lot.

But most of that was fear.

Inuyasha was afraid of opening himself up, of letting others see any vulnerability whatsoever - for a hanyou, letting someone in, trusting another, was a quick route to betrayal and death. It was a survival instinct for them to become hard and appear angry and defensive all the time, and she knew that.

She was, in fact, and she was aware of it, the only person that had ever really seen his softer side; he trusted her enough to open up just a crack, knowing that she wouldn't betray him. And over time, he was beginning, just a tiny bit, to open up to the rest of the group as well - but it would take a lot of time.

Even Kikyou had not been trusted with his human nights, and that said a lot about their relationship.

The problem, was that Inuyasha was inu - and they were very loyal. Kikyou had a hold on Inuyasha that might never be broken, and that's what Kagome feared so much. As far as she was concerned, Kikyou did not deserve his loyalty, though she would never speak ill of her in front of Inuyasha.

She didn't want to hurt him.

As all these thoughts ran through her mind, she slowly drifted off into dreamland, unaware that things were about to change in her and Inuyasha's relationship - drastically.

Inuyasha watched quietly as the group dropped off to sleep one by one, also unaware of the nightmare he was about to live through.

He'd never, ever admit it, but he felt like a heel for yelling at Kagome and upsetting her so badly earlier. But he could never seem to get her or anyone else to understand just what he owed Kikyou - Sango and Miroku, even Shippo, always telling him he was a fool.

Kagome never had, though he knew that she didn't hold with his belief that he owed Kikyou his life. But she never berated him for his choices - even though it was obvious that it upset her.

And that made him feel even more guilty.

So far, he knew he'd been lucky. He'd managed to keep Kagome safe, even with his near obsession with Kikyou. There was, however, no guarantee that that would continue.

More than likely, he was uncomfortably aware, at some point, she'd get hurt while he was with Kikyou.

He would fail to protect her.

That scared him more than thoughts of being drug off to hell, truthfully - and left him even more conflicted. For how could he live up to his promise to always protect her, if he went to hell?

Growling in frustration, he settled himself more comfortably against the trunk of the tree, and closed his eyes after one more sweep of the area with his senses to make sure it was safe. Emptying his mind, he thrust all his confused thoughts and feelings out of his head, and slowly drifted off to sleep.

---sSs---

Shaking his head and growling, Inuyasha scanned the area with all his senses. He couldn't find anything, but the feeling that something was wrong lay heavy on him - the air was thick, and there was a dark ominousness in the air.

It was agitating him badly.

Just as he was about to turn and snap at the rest of the group for falling behind, he caught something flash blue out of the corner of his eye, but before he could even turn back to see what it was, Kagome spoke.

Voice a bit high, she said, "I need to go home, Inuyasha. Now. I'll be gone for two days, and then I'll be back and we can go back on the hunt."

He scowled immediately. _What the fuck? _She sounded nervous, and her gaze was trained on the same area that blue flashing light had appeared - she was staring that way with a look of pain and sorrow on her face. It didn't sit well with him... something was going on.

He noticed as well, the looks on the faces of the other two - they looked sad and apprehensive, and both their gazes were pinned on her.

Just as he was about to speak, Sango pulled Kagome a little ways away, and hissed, "You _are_ coming back, right, Kagome? Please, tell me you aren't going with..." she trailed off as Kagome paled and hushed her.

_Something's going on, and they all know what it is, but they ain't tellin' me. Fuckin' hell!_

"I don't care, Kagome, what your excuses are this time, ya ain't goin'!" he snapped harshly, then turned on his heel before anyone could respond and said, "We'll make camp here for tonight."

He disappeared under the trees in the opposite direction as soon as the words left his mouth, leaving the three adults still standing there, exchanging awkward glances in the silence.

After a few moments, Kagome spoke up. "I have to go, you know that, right, guys? He's... he's waiting - and he's not really the patient sort. Please, please don't fight me on it this time, guys, okay?" she asked desperately. She looked away guiltily. "I owe it to him - because I promised..." she trailed off.

Miroku and Sango looked at each other, and even Shippo shifted uncomfortably, but Sango finally sighed. "Kirara, go ahead and take Kagome to the well, please."

The firecat flamed into her larger size and waited for Kagome to climb on before taking off with her passenger clinging tightly to her.

They were barely out of sight before an irate hanyou landed with a thump between the monk and the slayer.

The expression on his face did _not_ bode well for them.

"Okay, now I want to know what the hell is up with all that. Who the hell is 'he', and just what does she 'owe' him?" he growled dangerously.

Eyes wide, the two stared at the angry hanyou, and swallowed. Finally Sango spoke. "We aren't sure who 'he' is, just that it's someone Kagome knows, and that she has a debt to him. She won't say more."

Scowl deepening, Inuyasha snarled. "And how does she know he wants to see her?"

"You noticed that flash of light, I assume - that's what he uses to tell her he wants her presence," Miroku interjected.

"And you kept this from my _why?_" he yelled, eyes beginning to redden.

At that, Sango growled back, startling those around her. "What the hell do you care, Inuyasha? This whole situation is so much like you and Kikyou, that if I wasn't so worried about Kagome being able to return, I'd laugh! And since it's none of _Kagome's_ damn business what you and Kikyou do, it's really none of _yours_ what's going on with whoever 'he' is!"

Inuyasha stepped back as though he'd been slapped, suddenly very worried. _If she wasn't so worried that Kagome would be able to return...? What the hell does _that _mean? _A sinking feeling settled into his gut, and he spun on his heel, taking off after Kirara like a bat out of hell, leaving the others standing behind in the clearing, stunned.

_How long has this been going on, and why hasn't she told me? Have I been so busy being guilty about Kikyou that I missed something that's endangering Kagome?! Fuck! This can't be happening!_

He ran all out, utilizing every drop of speed he had to gain ground on the flying neko, determined to find out just what the hell was going on.

_I'm coming, Kagome... don't you dare do anything stupid!_

---sSs---

"It's okay, Kirara, you can just set me down here, and I'll walk the rest of the way to the well. You'd better get back to Sango and the others in case they need you."

Kirara eyed her over her shoulder, obvious uncertainty in the look, but finally, she roared an acknowledgment and lowered herself to the ground, landing near the god tree that the little miko loved so much. With a final nuzzle, and a purr, she leapt back into the air, leaving the girl behind.

_Thanks, Kirara. I'll have to bring you back some treats... if I make it back, that is._

With a resigned sigh at that thought, her shoulders slumped for a moment, and she let a few tears roll down her cheeks.

"Why does this have to be so hard?" she whispered to herself, not knowing that there was a hanyou hiding very close, listening and watching everything.

After a few moments of staring at the tree, softly caressing the bare patch that symbolized Inuyasha's imprisonment there, she sighed again, and squaring her shoulders, she started towards the well.

"I have to do this, I have to do this, I have to do this," she repeated over and over to herself. Inuyasha's brow furrowed as he listened. "I owe him my life, even though..." she trailed off for a moment, as her silent observer's eyes widened with horror.

She sobbed then, her emotions breaking open. "Inuyasha," she breathed. "Oh, gods, how can I bear this? I only hope he doesn't hate me. But I can't turn my back on _him_, either..."

Inuyasha was becoming more and more panicked as he listened to her somewhat disjointed words - and inhaled her usually calming scent.

It was far from calming him now, though - it was swirling with pain, fear, confusion, and a twisted _caring _feeling.

It raised his hackles - it was the same confusing cocktail of emotions he felt when he was faced with Kikyou.

This situation was deteriorating... if it was what it was beginning to look like, he was going to lose it.

As she stepped into the clearing near the well, Inuyasha held back, determined to find out once and for all what the hell was going on. He would control himself even if it killed him, and watch only, no matter what happened - unless her life was endangered.

His resolve was impossibly tested the moment he saw who stepped out of the treeline opposite to meet her.

---sSs---

"Sesshoumaru..." she said, a soft acknowledgment. Her voice carried a melange` of emotions within it, just as her scent did... and he was stunned beyond belief that _his_ Kagome was talking to his half-brother that way.

"Kagome... you came." His voice, while still unruffled, carried hints of emotion as well, shocking Inuyasha speechless. He'd never heard such a sound come from the notorious Ice Prince that was his only living relative.

With an audible sigh, the young woman set her bag down and stepped closer to him. "Of course I did - I always will, you know that."

"I thought perhaps that you had forgotten. While I understand why you did not know who I was when we met in my father's bones, still... what we shared was long ago - in another lifetime." He cocked a mocking brow at her. "And there is no denying that you care more than you should for the half-breed. There is no doubt in my mind that you would be pleased to forget what you owe me - to turn your back on your promise."

Kagome turned her face away, not able to deny the fact that she cared for Inuyasha. In truth, she loved him. But she had also loved Sesshoumaru, once upon a time, in another incarnation... and that incarnation had sworn to tie her soul to his for eternity, living while he lived, and dying when he chose to die.

The thing was, when she had first fallen down the well to this time, she hadn't remembered any of that - after all, that had been a previous incarnation - one that had died centuries before Kikyou had been born, through betrayal, just like Kikyou had.

Once her soul had been awakened to the past, though... Sesshoumaru had proven that he was not willing to let her go. And that meant that she was honor bound to hold to her word - even if it had been given in another life.

She looked down, face shadowed. "I will honor my word to you, Sesshoumaru - if you are choosing to die tonight, then I will go with you." A single tear ran down her face, and she wiped it away, and shook her head. "And I could never forget you, you know... not once my memories of that life were awakened, anyway."

He moved closer to her, coming to stand before her, and raised her chin with a finger, locking her eyes with his.

She looked so beautiful then, eyes sparkling with tears, and an air of sadness and tragedy wrapping around her. It wasn't surprising that he could not resist. "I do not choose to die tonight, however..." his voice trailed off, and he lowered his head to hers.

Kagome just sighed as her lashes fluttered closed... he hadn't kissed her since she'd remembered who she was, so this was a first - in this lifetime, anyway. In a previous one...

They'd been inseparable, and desperately in love.

She wasn't sure what she felt anymore, for herself as Kagome - she couldn't deny that he still held a power over her, but she loved Inuyasha, and this whole thing was killing her.

And as his lips touched hers, her heart cried out... he may have held it in a previous life, but that had been another woman, really...

In _this_ life, she loved Inuyasha...

But she could never have him - because Sesshoumaru would never let her go, just as Inuyasha would never let go of Kikyou.

---sSs---

To the hanyou hidden in the trees, this was watching his worst nightmare come true. Somehow, someway, his hated half-brother had a past with the woman he knew he was in love with, Kikyou notwithstanding.

As his back slid down the trunk of the tree he was perched in until he was resting against the fork in the limb, his mind was stuck on the vision of the bastard _kissing_ her. He felt as though he'd been gutted - having Sesshoumaru's hand through his gut had hurt less, and he suddenly felt very sick - this situation was eerily like his and Kikyou's - Sango had been right about that.

He felt as though the gods were mocking him, putting him in Kagome's spot, and making him suffer what she had watching him and Kikyou together.

His eyes blurred, and he clenched them shut, trying not to cry, but he just couldn't... the sight of her in Sesshoumaru's arms, the knowledge that there was that much there between them, that she would die to be with him, hurt so badly he could barely breathe.

It was agony, and suddenly, he flung himself from the tree and took off, running as if all the demons of hell were after him. Lifting devastated eyes to the heavens, he screamed...

And promptly fell out of the tree he had been in, landing on his ass, tears still streaming down his face and the echoes of that tortured scream still bouncing around a clearing full of his now-awakened friends - and a rather shocked Kagome rubbing sleep-crusted eyes.

Without even acknowledging the others, he leapt to his feet, driven by the emotions swirling dangerously inside him from what he now realized had been a dream, and snatched the sleep-tousled miko out of her sleeping bag before disappearing into the night.

He left behind a shell-shocked couple of people, and an overwhelming aura of pain and fear that Miroku and Shippo had no problem picking up on.

_What in the hell...?_

---sSs---

Inuyasha was desperate to find a place, anyplace, that he could take her and hide them both away from everyone - he needed to hold her close, and let it sink in that none of what he'd dreamed was real - she was alive, not involved with Sesshoumaru in any way, and not going to die for a promise she'd made to anyone.

He needed to calm himself, and he needed to talk to her - after what he'd dreamed, he didn't even need to think about it - the whole situation with Kikyou was _done. _As far as he was concerned, he would avenge her death - but that was it. He wasn't going to hell with her, and he wasn't _ever _leaving Kagome.

He loved her, and that was the only thing that he would allow to count anymore - at least, as long as she loved him back.

If she wanted him, then she'd have him, because as sure as there was a sky above his head, he never wanted to be apart from her again.

Not _ever._

He also felt horrible, gut-churning guilt - if what he'd dreamed, just _once_, had hurt _that bad_, how much more had _she _suffered over something that had been going on for months?

He'd spend the rest of his life making this up to her...

It didn't take him long to find a small cave, and before a still-stunned Kagome could even blink, they were stuffed as far back in the cave as they could go, and she was wrapped in fire rat and hanyou so tightly that there wasn't even room for a piece of paper between them.

She blinked, wondering what had brought this all on. Not that she was complaining, or anything - as far as she was concerned, this was wonderful, but...

"Uhm... Inuyasha? Are you okay?" she asked hesitantly, trying to squirm around enough to see his face. "Why are we here?"

"Kagome," he murmured fervently. "I'm_ so sorry _I've been such an ass all this time. _Please,_ don't hate me..."

Kagome was becoming increasingly worried by his behavior. This was not like Inuyasha at all. He didn't apologize, and he _certainly _didn't beg, and she had absolutely _no idea _what had brought this all on.

On top of that, he was shivering - if she didn't know better, she would think he was suffering from shock.

Could you go into shock from a nightmare?

"Calm down, Inuyasha, I don't hate you, I couldn't hate you if I tried," she sighed.

Wrapping her arms around him as best she could, she began to rock him slowly, trying to get him to calm down.

After a while, the shaking slowed, and he sniffed a few times, finally pulling away just a little, though he couldn't seem to look her in the eyes.

"Are you ready to tell me what upset you so badly?" she asked softly, rubbing his back soothingly.

He sighed, then nodded slowly.

"All this time you've been hurting," he said, almost timidly. "You should have sat me straight to hell, K'gome, for hurting you so bad. I can't believe you didn't leave me - you probably should have," he clenched his fists tightly, drawing blood on himself. "I'd have more than deserved it."

She shook her head, mystified. Sure, that he was apologizing for hurting her was nice - but she still didn't understand why. "Why don't you tell me what happened, Inuyasha? Then we can go from there."

He flicked a quick glance at her, as though he was afraid to look at her directly. "I... had a dream," he shuddered, "more like a nightmare, and it was like you were in a mess like I have... with Kikyou." That had been hard to get out, and he didn't want to go into any details - it was bad enough just thinking about it.

She looked taken aback as he snuck another peek at her, and he shrugged uneasily. "Someone had a hold over you, and wanted you to die with them, and you were gonna, because it was a matter of honor... just like me'n Kikyou."

Kagome hunched over a bit at that, almost as though she was going to hug herself defensively - if she hadn't still been wrapped around him. "Well, that's not the same, then," she said softly. "You're doing it because you love her, and I know that."

He shook his head violently at her words, this time meeting her gaze. "No! That's wrong, Kagome - I don't love Kikyou. I was only doing it because I felt honor-bound, and I didn't want her to have to be alone... she really didn't deserve it. But after that dream... well, I realized that if I went with her, then _you _would be alone, too - and that would be worse, because then I couldn't protect you. Me leaving you could mean you'd get hurt or killed - but Kikyou's _already_ dead, she doesn't need me to protect her!"

He yanked the stunned girl back into his chest, holding her as close as he could get her, and muttered into her hair, "I couldn't ever forgive myself if something happened to you because I'd left you alone to follow a dead woman to hell - and that's why I've decided that I'm not going to. Kikyou'll be going alone, because I have to stay here and protect you."

Kagome was speechless. This was something she'd dreamed of happening - but she'd never thought it really would. And that's when the tears hit her cheeks - tears of relief, and overwhelming love. He was going to _live._

He wasn't going to leave her.

Now it was his turn to comfort her, as he took over the gentle rocking motion that she'd started, and murmured soothing, affectionate sounds at her.

After a few minutes, she let out a little wet hiccup, and sighed, the tears of relief slowing down as his words sank in and were accepted. She smiled shyly up at him. "You mean that, right? You won't change your mind when you see her again, will you? I don't think I could stand it if you did..." she trailed off.

"Never," he vowed fervently. "The truth is..." he blushed, then managed to stammer out, "I... I love _you_, Kagome, and I want to be with you _forever._"

Once again, the girl in his arms was shocked, and beginning to look pole-axed. "Did... did you just say...?"

He nodded, squaring his shoulders and holding her gaze firmly, though she could see the underlying fear of rejection in his eyes. "I said I love you - and I meant it. I don't ever want to be apart from you... but if you don't feel the same," his expression tightened with pain, "I guess I would go with Kikyou then, because I don't want to live if I'm not with you."

At that, Kagome's expression morphed into one of horror. "Inuyasha! Don't ever say that! How could you not know that I love you? I've told you that I do... and I know you heard me tell Akago and Kagura that I did when he tried to take my soul over! Did you think I was lying?"

Inuyasha, however, hadn't heard anything past, 'how could you not know that I love you'. That was the most wonderful thing he'd ever heard in his life - and he'd probably still remember it a thousand years from now.

Just as she drew breath to say something else, he promptly stole it from her as he took her lips with his own, desperation plain in his actions.

_My Kagome, my Kagome, my Kagome, _his mind chanted at him, over and over. It was such a beautiful thing...

Kagome wasn't in much better shape, as her mind just kept screaming _Inuyasha, Inuyasha, Inuyasha, Inuyasha, _as though it were incapable of forming any thoughts that weren't about him.

Inuyasha licked along her bottom lip, begging to be let in, and almost blacked out with the joy that washed over him when she opened to him without hesitation. After the kiss he'd dreamed between Sesshoumaru and Kagome, he felt the need to mark her with his scent - make sure there truly was no scent of his brother or anyone else anywhere in her sweet mouth.

Kagome sighed into his mouth; she'd given up hope of something like this ever happening, and now that it was, she wasn't about to do anything to stop it. She only hoped like hell that he wouldn't back away afterwards, throwing all his walls back up between them - she didn't think she'd be able to take it again.

Unbeknownst to her, the hanyou in her arms had no such intentions - he was done with running from this woman. There would be no more denials, and no more betrayals.

Pulling away after a few minutes to regain his breath, he leaned his forehead on hers, and cupped her cheeks with both his hands as he felt her eyelashes brush his flesh softly; she was looking at him, breathing deeply, and wondering... he could see it in her eyes.

With a sigh, he pulled away, letting his hands drop, though he immediately wrapped them back around her.

"So... this was all brought on because you had a nightmare that I was going to die with someone," she said slowly, a doubtful look in her eyes and marring her sweet voice.

He nodded firmly. "Yeah... it was the worst thing I've ever been through... I don't know how you've stayed sane all these months - it hurt so bad I couldn't ever go through that again." He shivered with remembered agony.

Before Kagome could answer, a small green glow moved towards them, and before the panicked hanyou could even move, a voice said, "Don't be afraid, Inuyasha. I would never hurt you."

The trembling hanyou's eyes widened in shocked surprise, but snapped out, "Keh! Ain't me I'm afraid someone's gonna hurt, I can take it - but I won't let anyone hurt K'gome!"

A laugh was heard - Kagome twisted around in Inuyasha's lap and stared at the little green spark in astonishment. "Who are you?" she asked suspiciously.

"Inuyasha knows who I am, don't you, Inuyasha?"

"I... you... but - you can't be her... my mother died almost two hundred years ago - I was just a kid!"

Another laugh, and then a sigh. "Yes, I did die a long time ago - but I have always been with you. And I'm the one that sent you that nightmare, my son - you were messing up your life and hurting this girl who has done nothing but love you. And all for a clay woman who isn't even real. It had to stop."

Inuyasha growled. "You made me dream that?!"

Kagome put a restraining hand on his arm - she had a question of her own. "Why did he react so badly? I know Inuyasha, and he usually can ignore pain very well - so why did he go so crazy over that nightmare?"

"Because I took all the months of pain you have suffered over this situation with Kikyou, and concentrated it all into one night - he needed to be pushed over the edge, and only something like this would do. Besides... I heard your words and the words of your friends - he had to see what he'd been putting you through. It wasn't right. You are a good woman, Kagome, and have always and only loved my son - how could I not try to help him see that?"

"But... your his mother!" she gasped. "How could you stand to hurt him like that?"

"It's called tough love - if I hadn't intervened, my son would have ended up alone in hell over a vengeful woman that has her hatreds mixed up - Naraku is the one she should be after, not you, Inuyasha. Her death was not your fault - she _chose _to die rather than find out the truth of the events that led up to that mess."

Kagome sighed, casting a sidelong glance at Inuyasha. She could see the woman's point... and if it had gotten through to his stubborn mind, then it had been worth it. If he could bring himself to live because of this...

Inuyasha was looking out of the cave mouth, thinking it all through. He hadn't missed what she'd said about him being in hell _alone _if he'd gone with Kikyou... it pretty much confirmed something that he'd been wondering about for a while.

That dream had hurt - but it had still been valid, even though his mother had sent it to him. He had needed a very violent push to break past the years of walls and guilt that he had, and no matter the way that it had been accomplished, all that mattered is that it had been.

Shrugging, he finally looked back towards the green spark, and nodded. "As much as that whole thing sucked, and I hated it... you were right. It needed to be done - I'm glad you did it."

The little green spark flared brighter. "So... does this mean you will choose to live, and not go to hell?" the voice of his mother asked.

He tightened his grip on Kagome and nodded. "Yeah... that's what it means."

Kagome silently thanked his mother and every kami out there as she returned his embrace fervently. The more he affirmed his decision to live, the more confident she felt that he actually would stay with her.

With one final bright green flare, the spirit of Izayoi spoke. "Then my purpose is accomplished - live long, and well, my son - and remember, I love you, and I am always with you."

With that, the light flickered out, and Inuyasha watched until every last bit of it was gone, whispering, "I love you, too, mother," as it did.

The two were silent for a while as the light outside began to grow, signaling dawn's arrival, and just enjoyed holding on to each other in the cool, still air. It was a closeness that they hadn't had in a long while, and this time, there was no fear on Kagome's part - and no guilt on Inuyasha's.

"You know... I never meant to hurt you like that, Kagome, " he said finally. "I just never realized how much I was. I guess because I couldn't bring myself to believe that you really love me. Too many years of being told I wasn't worthy of love," he said deprecatingly as she frowned at him.

After a moment, she ran her fingers caressingly under his bangs. Tenderly, she said, "If you never believe anything else I ever tell you, Inuyasha, never doubt this: I love you more than anything in this world. There isn't anything I wouldn't do for you, okay?"

He nodded sheepishly as his eyes held hers with wonder glowing in their depths. "Maybe the kami don't hate half-breeds as much as everyone says... they can't if they gave you to me."

She smiled shyly up at him, then yawned and stretched a bit, looking over her shoulder, she noted the sunlight, and sighed. "You know... we should probably get back to the others... the gods only know what they're thinking by now, especially after the way you took off with me." She giggled a little as she imagined Miroku's expression, and Inuyasha seemed to understand her mirth, as he turned a bit red, but chuckled.

"Yeah... that lecher - he's probably got everyone convinced that we're out here doing improper things."

Kagome winked mischievously. "Well, he wouldn't be _entirely _wrong," she quipped, and he flushed as he looked at her with hope.

"You mean... you'd be _willing _to do those kinds of..._ improper _things with me?"

She looked taken aback at his question. "What the... _of course _I would be, Inuyasha! What did you think I meant when I said I love you? That's part of being in love with someone, isn't it? Why wouldn't I be willing?"

"Well, just because you love me doesn't mean you'd be willing to touch me like... _that_. No one else would be willing to have a hanyou as a mate - er - husband."

She yanked his sidelocks lightly with a frown. "Well, I'm not anyone else, baka, and I _am_ willing. Actually, to be technical about it, I'm _way _past willing," she said with a pretty blush, and a warm sparkle in her eye.

He smiled just a little, a new warmth in his eyes as he chuckled at her. "Hentai," he said affectionately. "So... once we've beaten Naraku... would you be my mate, my wife?" he asked quietly.

Kagome's eyes brightened and her smile lit up the small space in the cave, rivalling the sunlight for shine, and she nodded eagerly. "_Yes! _Of course I will... you shouldn't have even had to ask!"

Excited, she heaved herself out of a surprised hanyou's lap, and grabbing his hand, she tugged on it. "Come on, Inuyasha! The sooner we get out of here, the sooner we can beat Naraku, and the sooner I can have you all to myself!"

Inuyasha was so stunned at her joyous reaction - and even more so that she was so _eager_, that he was almost incapable of speech as she pulled him along behind her, chattering a mile minute about the future.

Sure, she'd said she wanted him, but the way she was acting - she honestly couldn't wait to belong to him, and in that moment, that realization healed over so many, many years of hatred and rejection, that he almost felt as though he would have floated away if she hadn't been clutching so tightly to his hand.

_That shouldn't really surprise me, _he thought,_ since she's been slowly healing me ever since she first came into my life. I can't believe I was being so stupid as to almost let her go - for someone that only wanted to kill me._

He couldn't be any more thankful for the nightmare his mother had sent him - though it had sucked, and he never wanted to go through something like that again - that one nightmare had just assured his happiness for the rest of his life.

The funny thing about it was, as he considered the fact that he would have to tell Kikyou about this, he felt no guilt. It was like, for the first time since he'd been woken from the tree, the weight of all that had happened was gone.

He wasn't carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders anymore.

Kagome had saved him from everything else, and his mother and Kagome had saved him from the final danger he was presented with - himself.

He didn't even feel bad for Kikyou anymore - yes, her life had been cut short - but let's face it... the life she had to look forward to in her next incarnation was better than anyone could have asked for.

She would get to be Kagome... and as far as he was concerned, that was just about the best fate the gods could create.

Despite the fact that Kagome was Kikyou's reincarnation, though, he was completely aware that Kagome was her own person. She was nothing like Kikyou personality-wise... and he was thankful for that.

And as she drew him happily into the clearing their friends were still in as they gratefully welcomed their missing companions back, she healed even more of those old wounds as she _proudly _declared them a couple promised to wed as soon as Naraku was defeated, just as Miroku and Sango were.

She wasn't at all ashamed to link her life and her name with his... and neither was he. Despite the teasing he knew he would receive from the lecher, he reciprocated her pride in him and stood by her side, tall and solemn, yet happy as he claimed her in front of their friends.

He could barely keep his eyes off her as she absolutely glowed, and he endured the good-natured ribbing of their friends as they packed up and moved on with their day, not minding at all as long as he could keep her in his sights.

Even Shippo was happy - now he had a real family again, and he found himself glad that whatever had happened last night, had finally gotten through to the stubborn hanyou he looked up to so much.

For it wasn't just the hurt that he'd been putting Kagome through that had bothered the little kit - it was also the fear of losing Inuyasha, that had the kit wishing what he had.

And now he never would - they would all be together for as long as they all would live.

None of them could have wished for anything better, and it came to them all separately that now, they didn't even need the jewel - they had everything they could ever want...

In each other.

---sSs---

A/N: This was just a cute little idea that came to me a while back, and I finally finished it up. Hope it entertained - and that no one was looking for it to be a deep fic. This one was only meant to be a little light story, so I hope that it came across the way it was meant to.

At any rate, I hope it entertains.

Amber


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